Relaxing
by Whole Lotta Sarah Tribbiani
Summary: Hermione convinces Harry and Ron to come to McGonagall's relaxation session with her. A little bit of RWHG from Ron's POV. Please R&R.
1. Persuasion aka Scene Setter

Relaxing

Hermione drags Harry and Ron to Professor McGonagall's Relaxation Class! Of course, Hary's not too keen on the idea, and Ron is - well, Ron's Ron. See, I can't even go to a relaxation session without thinking about Harry Potter! I'm obsessed! Argh! This chapter is basically a little 'set the scene' one.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter

* * *

"This looks really interesting!" Hermione said, indicating the poster on the Notice Board. Harry and Ron peered at it. 

_Relax!_

_End of year exams are over!_

_Join me in my classroom this lunchtime for a session of magical relaxation_

_Come and unwind..._

_(Eat lunch first)_

"Erm - no, it doesn't!" Ron corrected her, "You know what that'll be, she's going to put us all under one of those tranquility place spell things and make us all let go of our cares and all that. It doesn't work, Hermione."

"Yes, it does! There are just_ some people_ who don't let themselves _go_ enough!"

Harry could hardly believe he was hearing these words from Hermione. He burst out laughing.

"I can't imagine you doing one of those," he told her, "'Relax ... relaaaaax ... argh, I've just remembered, that Potions essay is due in in a couple of weeks and I _haven't finished it yet'_!"

Hermione glared at him.

"I'm going! Whether you like it or not. And I want you to come with me. I'll look stupid on my own."

Ron gaped at her.

"You're _going_? You're joking, more like!"

"It'll be worth it, I promise."

Hermione looked at them both, in a way that said '_Please_?'

Harry sighed. Ron didn't say anything. He was looking back at her. At her big, brown, pleading eyes ... her 'sad Hermione' face was almost _cute_... yuck.

"Oh. alright then," he groaned, "But only because I don't want you to be lonely - I mean, on your own."

Harry nodded, "Yeah, OK."

"Brilliant! I can't wait!" Hermione started a long explanation of what she'd read about these sessions, the different potions and spells they used to create different atmospheres, smells and visualisations. Ron nodded and said 'yeah' every now and again, not taking in a word she was saying, but watching her eager face glowing. He'd started to like the way she looked when she got really passionate about something - which was in almost every single lesson they had. He shook the feeling off quickly.

'Ron, she's _Hermione_,' he told himself, 'Do you really want to think of her in _that _way?'

'But she's so _pretty_,' another voice argued.

'No, she's your swotty friend _Hermione_! Drop it, OK?'

Ron left it there.

* * *

I promise this will be more about the relaxy bit next. I just thought this chapter would be a bit short if I didn't add a bit of Ron exploring his emotional range of a tablespoon formerly teaspoon. Please R&R! 


	2. Purple Vapours

Relaxing

Chapter Two

Ok, this is going to be the actual relaxy thing now so sit back, relax (lol) and read it. Now.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter. JK Rowling wrote the books, not me.

* * *

Hermione pushed open the door. There were no flowery smells, no tinkling tunes. Plus, Ron was full from lunch and knew he'd never be able to relax. He had too much on his mind. 

Harry followed Hermione inside. Ron hesitantly did the same, and nearly fell on them both as his foot sank into the ground. He looked down - the whole floor was like a mattress.

All the desks had been pushed to the sides. Professor McGonagall was sitting by one at the front. On it was a small bottle of something purple and a strange magical-powered music player.

"Good afternoon Mr Potter - Miss Granger - oh, and Mr Weasely, I didin't think you'd be coming," McGonagall said.

"Yeah, well," Ron sighed heavily, accepting a purple satin cushion from her, "You know... Hermione made me, and all that."

"I did _not -_" Hermione started to say, but McGonagall cut in.

"Just find yourselves a comfortable place on the floor and put your heads on your pillows."

Hermione just about dropped down where she was. Harry and Ron lay beside her, and they spent a few minutes chatting while other students arrived. There weren't many.

"See, Hermione? There's practically nobody here!"

"So? Maybe they're just not into this sort of thing."

"Yeah, 'cos me and Harry can't get enough -"

Music started to play. It was soft and sweet, with the sound of waves and birdsong in the background. Ron groaned.

"OK," McGonagall began, "I want you all to get yourselves comfortable and close your eyes. I am going to open this bottle of tranquil potion - you may feel a bit light-headed at first, but don't worry, this will soon pass. When you're under the effects completely, you will begin to relax in your own way, as your mind interprets the potion."

Ron opened his eyes slightly to watch McGonagall open the bottle. A purple mist drifted lazily out, and soon the room was full of a sort of sparking haze. He smiled. It was beautiful...

Beside him, Hermione was inhaling deeply. He did the same, allowing the strange vapours to take control of him. He felt dizzy - closing his eyes tightly, he took a few deep breaths...

Hermione was already under the effects. She was lying on a sunlit beach, her nostrils filled with the salty sea spray and the tidal sounds relaxing her every muscle..

Harry was on his Firebolt, cruising through the deep blue sky. He had no idea where he was going, but he didn't care ... about anything at all ... he knew he couldn't fall off his broom, so he leant forward and closed his eyes, and Ginny strolled into his sleepy head...

Ron's last concious thought was 'I wonder if Fred and George based their Patented Daydream Charms on this stuff...'

He stretched out in the grass. People were playing quidditch in the air, passing a minuscle quaffle between each other. People were by the Lake, dangling their feet in, talking happily. People were _on_ the Lake too, in pedal-boats, mainly couples... Ron waved lazily as Harry and Ginny pedalled past, grinning. Bill and Fleur followed them, their hair rippling in the warm breeze. Ron wanted to join in - it looked so very relaxing...

The biggest, most spectacular boat sailed past, in the shape of a huge, white swan. The sides were so high he couldn't see who was in it - until it turned, and Hermione was smiling at him. The seat beside her was empty...

None of this seemed unusual or strange to Ron in any way as he climbed into the boat. They pedalled away, and he felt his body grow looser as the tension flowed away into the pedals...

* * *

The room swam back into view, and Hermione and Harry spent a few moments lying down with smiles on their faces, before slowly sitting up. A slight purple fog still lingered, keeping them in a calm, dreamlike state.

"I feel so - relaxed," Harry sighed happily, rubbing his eyes, "I could just go to sleep."

"Me too," Hermione agreed, "Ron?"

Ron was still on the floor, his face buried in his pillow.

"Leave me alone!" he moaned, "I'm relaxing!"

"Ron, it's over! We need to go!"

Ron put his hands over his ears. He could still stay there, still hang onto his world if he shut the real, stressful one out...

Someone gently shook his shoulder, and the last sparkles of the water vanished as he looked up. Hermione was smiling down at him.

"They don't work, then?" she laughed, dodging the pillow that Ron had just thrown at her head.

Ron couldn't help laughing too. He couldn't get annoyed with her. This was the best he'd ever felt in his life.

They had Potions next. Why did they hate Snape so much? Ron thought it over. Sure, Snape was horrible and unfair, but - so what?

There was also something Ron had been meaning to do for a while now. He got a tight knot in his stomach every time he thought about it. But now ... it would be a breeze. Why couldn't he do it? It was so _simple_ ... there was nothing to worry about ...

'Of course there is,' the real-world voice in his head argued, 'It might all go wrong.'

Ron decided to get it over with. Before the feeling of relaxation wore off, before he stressed over it again, and before the horrible little voice in his head took total control again...

* * *

They'll talk about their visualisations next. I imagined this to be like a one-shot, but I've got two more chapters planned. Please R&R!


	3. The Effects

Relaxing

Ron is going to do it! What's it? Read on to find out! (Although it is pretty obvious).

Don't you just hate how you check your work, save it, and half the spaces close themselves up?

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter.

* * *

"What happened to you?" Hermione asked Harry. She was wishing she could be lying on that beach again. 

"I was flying," Harry sighed, "In the sky. It was beautiful. There were stars and things like that. I saw ..."

He kept going on about twinkly stars and swirly clouds while Ron thought about his visualisation. He and Hermione had really enjoyed themselves together. Especially when they'd tipped Malfoy and Pansy's boat over into the water ... they had been so angry ...

Harry's fantasy flight sounded incredibly _boring_. He really didn't want to hear how beautiful his sister was when her hair flew out behind her, he didn't care about all of the planets and meteors he'd soared past ... he just needed to do what he had to do.

"Mine was amazing," Hermione was telling Harry, "I was lying on this beach ... it was on a desert island, or somewhere realy deserted, anyway ... it was like a dream ... and then this bird landed beside me, it was really big and colourful ... but it had red feathers on its head ..."

Hermione's sounded much better. Ron listened, all the while formulating his plan ...

"It talked to me ... in bird language, of course, but ... I understood it, and I sat on its back and he took me into the middle of the sea ... and I just lay there and thought about ... about -" Hermione, for some reason, had turned bright red, "About ... things. And -I knew I wasn't going to sink," she added hastily.

Harry and Ron said nothing.

"So! Ron!" Hermione laughed nervously, her voice very high-pitched, "What was yours about?"

Exactly what Ron needed. He launched straight into his description.

"I was watching all of you lot on boats on the Lake ... Harry, you were in one with Ginny and Hermione was in this gorgeous swan, and she was on her own, so - I got in it with her."

Hermione's face had lost all expression. She was gazing at Ron.

"Yes. And we had a brilliant time ... we were bashing into people, we sank Malfoy, we almost killed Percy ... it was so fun, and all my tension and stress and all that rubbish just sort of went through the pedals and I was completely happy. With you. Hermione."

Harry sensed something was going on.

"Oh, I need the loo. I'll catch you two up," he muttered, dashing off to Potions.

Ron knew the real reason he'd gone. He looked expectantly at Hermione. Everything was going right, for once in his life.

"Ron, I -" Hermione took a deep breath before she continued, "That bird. In mine. It was you."

Ron had expected this. It was simply the vapours. They made him slightly more intelligent.

"And - and I was thinking about you all the way through it."

_Something this good coming this easily could only come from going to a relaxation session_, Ron thought. He smiled.

"Do you want to go out with me, then?"

"OK," Hermione replied matter-of-factly, and they kissed quickly, took hold of each others' hands and walked to Potions together.

Harry was waiting for them there.

"We're going out," Ron told him proudly.

"Yes, isn't it great?" Hermione agreed.

"Erm - yeah, I suppose ... hehehe ..." Harry was slightly taken aback by how the pair of them were acting so ... casual ...about something like this.

"I love you," Ron said to Hermione.

"I love you too."

"Do you want to kiss again?"

"I don't see why not."

So they did. Harry watched them, baffled. He _was_ feeling a bit more relaxed - his outlook on the world was a bit more positive - but he could never kiss Ginny in the middle of a corridor full of Slytherins. It was probably because he had lots more on his mind than they did to begin with.

The said students started jeering and wolf-whistling. Ron and Hermione ignored them.

"Oooooh, Weasel! Do you _lurve_ that Mudblood? Eeew, I would have thought you'd have better taste ... mind you, you _do_ come from a family of blood traito -"

He gasped as a hex, fired lazily and non-verbally from Ron's wand, hit him. Ron hadn't even looked up.

Harry grinned. He wished McGonagall would do one of these things every day.

* * *

This chapter was written really lazily to get across the impression of everyone not having a care in the world. There will be one last short chapter. This fic hasn't got many reviews, so please up the numbers a bit! And yes, I will concentrate when I write this next chapter! 


	4. Ron's Turn

Relaxing

Chapter Four

In which Ron and Hermione are together! Yay!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter, because JK Rowling does.

* * *

Ron casually yawned and, glancing at Hermione, put his arm around her. She smiled and sat back against it. Harry watched them, still unsure whether he wanted this to happen, but knowing it had nothing to do with him, so he said nothing. 

After the rushed get-together, Ron and Hermione were back to normal. And they were like a normal couple, too. They walked round holding hands, and kissed every now and again. Harry was pleased about this - if they went round snogging each other he might have to yell at them.

"I'm going to bed," Ron said, after a few minutes, "I know it's early, but I'm worn out."

"OK then," Hermione leant across and kissed him on the cheek, "Goodnight."

"Night, 'Mione," Ron stood up, "Goodnight, Harry."

"See you in a bit."

Ron walked across the Common Room. He was feeling stressed out already. Now the effects had worn off, the world where he and Hermione had pedalled a swan had completely vanished.

He wanted to do another one. Now. Or soon, that would do. Did he have the instructions for that potion in his book...?

He did! And it was quite simple to make as well. He just needed to leave it overnight ... he could do it first thing in the morning.

* * *

The next day, Harry and Hermione were in the Common Room doing homework. 

"Where's Ron?" Hermione asked, frowning at her essay.

"I don't know, actually," Harry realised he hadn't seen Ron since the previous night, "I think he was still asleep when I got up. He _must_ have been tired."

At that very moment, Ron appeared, fully dressed, but carrying what looked like his bedclothes.

"Oh, morning Ron! We were just wondering where you were," Harry said.

"Yeah, I was - erm, I'd better go and - bye," Ron hurried off.

Hermione sensed something was wrong.

"Ron!" she called after him, standing up. He ignored her. She ran over to him and took hold of his arm.

"Where are you going?"

Ron blushed.

"I'm - I'm going to go - and put these somewhere," he stammered.

Hermione loooked at him for a few moments, then the truth dawned on her. She smiled and suppressed a giggle.

"You've made that potion again, haven't you?"

"Yes!" Ron cried, unable to lie any longer.

"And you're going to the Room of Requirement to use it!"

"No!" Ron said, then it hit him that this would have been the perfect excuse. He could say he was going somewhere else ... but now Hermione knew he wasn't quite telling the whole truth. She didn't need to say anything.

"Alright," he sighed, steering her away from the nearest chairs, "I'm taking these to be washed."

He blushed furiously, avoiding her eyes, but Hermione just laughed.

"You spilt it on your bed, didn't you?"

"No! I - if you must know -" Ron looked like he wanted to cry, "Hermione, I did it all wrong! I made the potion all stupid! It stank, it wasn't as soothing - and I made it too strong! I relaxed _too much_!"

Hermione was about to ask what he meant by 'too much', but he carried on miserably.

"My whole body relaxed completely. Every single muscle. I couldn't - _control_ - certain ones."

Hermione took a minute to realise what this meant, but when she did she broke into hysterical giggles and could barely move.

"You'd better go and wash them, then!" she choked, gasping for breath.

Ron scowled and was about to storm off, when Hermione stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek.

"My big baby," she whispered, before smiling and running to join Harry.

Ron couldn't help it. He saw the funny side and smiled, too.

* * *

I hope everyone gets this, because I don't want to have to explain it! 


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